Obama Threatens States for Defunding Planned Parenthood

The Obama administration threatened states taking steps to defund Planned Parenthood, claiming they may be in violation of federal law, HHS officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said that representatives of its agency, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, contacted state officials in Louisiana and Alabama earlier this month warning them that their plans to end Medicaid provider agreements with Planned Parenthood may illegally constrict beneficiary access to services, according to Yahoo News.

Federal law requires state Medicaid programs to cover “family-planning” services and supplies for anyone of child-bearing age, according to HHS, and the agency contends that terminating the agreements with Planned Parenthood would restrict beneficiaries’ access to care and services from “qualified providers of their choice.”

President Obama has been an ardent Planned Parenthood supporter throughout his administration. He told the largest provider of abortion in the U.S. in 2013 he would fight alongside it to further its agenda.